Making The Most Of Your Wardrobe Featuring Simply Be

The last few years, for us, have been difficult financially, my husband has had to jump from one temporary contract to another far too many times and has sometimes had to sign on in between. This has meant me putting a hold on my clothing budget, meaning I could only buy the essentials, luckily I do get sent clothing items now and then through the blog so that is a bonus.

Making my wardrobe work year round has been very important to me because of this so when I do shop I buy items that are versatile, that can see me through multiple season and be layered for warmth in the winter. Each season I do try to get one or two bits that will help me work with what I already have.
Just before Christmas Simply be sent be a selection of items that I could use to make my winter wardrobe more adaptable for winter into spring.

My first item is something I purchase most winters, Knee-high Boots, as I wear them on a daily basis, I always look for a pair that looks good for day and night.

Anna Scholz Studded Boots

I was sent these fabulous Anna Scholz Studded boots, they are great thrown on over leggings but are smart enough that I can wear them out in the evening, which is perfect for my budget! they are in the sale right now so grab a bargain.

Next up is a dress that is great in the daytime with a jumper or cardigan over the top but easily dressed up for the evening.

High Neck Check Velour Dress

I adore the print of this dress and the colour is beautiful, it is great to wear with tights ankle boots and a chunky knit cardigan, or I can throw it on with heels or my knee boots for an evening out.

A good knit is very important for a versatile wardrobe it helps with layering against the cold, easily dresses down an outfit to make it more casual and works with so many outfits. I often go for cardigans as they are the easy option but this time I went for a jumper, I wanted the option of a skirt and top look if I team it with my dresses.

Fluffy Knitted Shell Top

It is fluffy and warm and wonderful, It is fabulous with jeans and over blouses and dresses.

The last item I was sent were an awesome pair of leggings, I have a ton of plain black legings but sometimes I want to make a plain out fit stand out.

Check Leggings

These are perfection, appealing to my inner 90's teenager.

 Over the coming weeks I am going to try to show you as many outfits as possible including items from this selection to show you how I make my wardrobe work for me on a very tight budget.

Do you shop for key versatile items or are you a trend setter, do you just buy what you love regardless of if it fits in with your current wardrobe?

Mhairi

xxx

Violeta by Mango

This collection is going to take a beating from the plus community, for not being bold enough and not offering the same range and Mango's main line, but I have to say I am kinda in love with most of it.

Sometimes I do like to stand out in crazy fashion but other times I like to feel grown up and sophisticated, and that is the feeling I get form this collection.

Mango is a brand I have loved for years, my parents moved to Majorca in the late 90's when I was coming to the end of my teens and Mango was a huge brand there, so many of my clothes came from them for quite a while until I no longer fitted in them. 

The Violeta range isn't as brave as there main range but it does stick to there design feel, it is clean, sophisticated and simple, the prices are slightly higher maybe but not by much.

Robyn Lawley looks amazing in the press images!

I have chosen some of my favorite pieces, there are many more but the post would bet a bit long if I added them all.

Bicolor Fitted Dress

Zip Satin Dress

Monochrome Print Dress

Flowy Wrap Dress

Polka Dot Dress

Wrap Dress

Plumeti Blouse

Printed Flowy Trousers

Polka Dot Trousers

Even though the range isn't breaking any new fashion barriers or taking huge risks, I do think it is important to remember that Mango are taking  leap by introducing a plus range. The sizes apparently go up to a 24 which hopefully can be improved on but very few other brands have taken this step, hopefully if it does well it will improve and become bolder!

What do you think of the range?

Mhairi 

xxx

Lifestyle - Kitchen Makeover Part 3 Wishlist

Now that the kitchen is nearly done, there is just a little more painting to do, I am finding myself looking for those finishing touches we have known for the last few years when wanted to go for reds and creams in there so I have a good idea what I want.

The first thing I know that I want for the kitchen is a clock, it is such a huge room that I didn't want a tiny little wall clock, so have been looking out for something nice and big, I came across the perfect one just before Christmas in Matalan and will be getting it asap for the back wall that we have wallpapered.

Clock

it is about 25in across and an antique off white colour which I think I may rub with a little wax coloured with the cream we are using for the walls to make it fit it perfectly.

Utensils

I love Le Creuset but it is definitely at the higher end of the price range but these utensils are gorgeous and I can add to them as and when we have spare funds.

Bookends

I need some bookends for my shelves once I get them up as I keep all my recipe books and gardening books in the kitchen, kind of loving these for my recipe books and the ones below are awesome too!

Pans

New pans are a must, as mine were purchased a very long time ago and they have seen better days, I quite like these as they will look just as good on my hob as off, I would love Le Cruset but they are way out of out price range for now!

Dining Set

I hadn't even thought of Simply Be for kitchen items, but these plates came up when I was searching for all the tartan items and I have fallen in love!

 There are still a million and one other things I would like to buy but these are at the top of my list for now. Do you have a colour theme for your kitchen?

Mhairi

xxx

Lifestyle - Kitchen makeover part 2

Wallpapering is actually something that I really enjoy doing, I am still not totally fabulous at it but I do alright, when the kitchen was all finished we decided to make use of some wallpaper that we had kept in our cupboard for about 2 years and never got around to using.

We wanted to make the dining end of our kitchen a bit more defined, the white walls are a bit stark and until we can get around to painting them a more creamier colour the wallpaper is a definite improvement, and I love the finished result on that wall.

I am not very professional I don't use a plumb line or anything useful like that I do it by eye and hope for the best.

It didn't go too badly!

Looking not too shabby.

All finished, the table will be in the center once we relocate the freezer and I plan on having a big round wall clock up and some shelves for my cook books to the left which you cant quite see in this picture.

My last post on the kitchen for now will be tomorrow and I am going to post my accessories wish list so I have somewhere to come back to and check off what I manage to get.

I hope you are enjoying these posts, I like doing them and enjoy sharing little parts of our life with you guys.

Mhairi 

xxx

Lifestyle - Kitchen Makeover

Last November we were lucky enough to have the kitchen in our home replaced, it was a huge relief as the old kitchen was serviceable but such a mess and very mismatched.

I don't have any good pictures of the kitchen before but in these you can see the awful colour and the nicotine stains we have been battling since we moved in!

The yellow on the walls just sapped all the life out of me and the room, it was so dreary, I hate yellow so that might explain it.

The first job was an electrician who changed all our switches out and ripped put the old kitchen, it was very bare and strange over the weekend as he did this on the friday.

I did get excited about new switches!

Next in were the fitters and decorators, who cleaned and painted all the walls then began fitting all the cupboards and appliances it was very noisy and dusty!

New sink and plumbing that makes some sense and doesnt leak all over the cupboard

I actually squealed to have a decent amount of light in our kitchen, we had an awful spotlight that always blew one bulb previously.

Toby was fascinated by it all.

Our worktop selection.

After they leveled the floor we realised we had forgotten to set the timer on the heating, and as the doors had been open for 3 days straight at this point the house was very cold, Josh kindly stepped in and was chucked on the counter by his dad to turn it on! We work as a team :)

We had to wait a few days for the last 2 drawer fronts to arrive but the new floor is such an improvement, eventually we want to tile it as it is harder wearing with the dogs.

The appliances fitted perfectly thank goodness as I was worried it looked so small.

We did some work to the blank wall at the end of the kitchen, which if you follow me on instagram you will have seen my various posts but I will blog more about that later in the week.

Now just to try and decorate the rest of the house so it looks as bright and clean.

Mhairi

xxx

Onward and upward 2014 here I come!

Happy New Year to all my wonderful readers! I hope 2014 is full of happiness, love and opportunities. 

xxx

2013 for me, if I am really honest, was terrible, my mental and physical health suffered quite a bit meaning that all my efforts to meet the weight goals for the fertility treatment have gone out of the window and I have instead gained a lot more, financially 2013 was worse than terrible, so this year to be honest has to get better!

I have come to realise that resolutions and declaring this year will be the best year ever aren't going to cut it, only I can make the changes required to make this year better, I already have an interview lined up for next week, either way that is a positive step forward into the new year.

The blog is getting a new lease of life for 2014 too, my own self image took a real beating in the latter half of 2013 and I got into the bad habit of hiding from my camera and myself meaning that the blog slowed down to nearly nothing which made me even more depressed so I will be making every effort to get my but in gear, the blog wont be the same, I have decided that it needs to be about all of me not just the bits I feel comfortable of safe sharing, it will include our fertility journey, my endeavors to home-school my 14 year old step son through his GCSE's as well as the usual fashion and lifestyle posts.

There may be discussion of my weight loss as this is a huge part of the fertility journey, but please understand I do not believe everyone needs to diet, but I do support other peoples choice to do it if it is really what they want to do, everyone has different goals in life and I support them all. I don't do faddy diets so will just be trying to eat healthily and increase my daily exercise which is something I want and need to do regardless of the weight loss.

2014 is about taking control of our life and working together to make it better, our house has been in a total state for the last 2 years mainly because I have been avoiding doing anything about it, but moving forward I plan on working our way to a beautiful home. I have a post coming later which shows the transformation of our old dreary horrid kitchen to its new fabulous look, and some furniture up cycling posts for you in the near future too.

I am back ladies and gents and more determined than ever to make my life a happy and worthwhile adventure!

I hope you enjoy coming along for the ride.

xxx

well its day two. xx